Jon Tester

You need to be commended for that. You are partnering with landowners, local nongovernmental organizations, community groups, local businesses, and others to protect the way of life in the Rocky Mountain front for generations to come from…

It is a critically important issue, as you know, that we get Montana's hunt approved as soon as possible.

I can accept that if I know what the short-term versus the long-term impacts are.

There cannot be a new monument or refuge on the Missouri River in eastern Montana. Period.

With no funds requested in the President's budget request for fiscal year 2012, what is your vision for how the ILCP will be implemented and when will that begin?

I'm all about making folks lean and mean, and all that.

I firmly believe any conservation in Montana must have solid local support before anything happens.

So, where'd the $400 million come from?

I appreciate your vision for public lands and keeping them public for access.

It is our most valuable resource.

You touched on something that drives me crazy in Government, in that we reduce the workforce on one hand.

Right. Because if there's more hazardous fuels, it sounds to me--and correct me if I'm wrong--there's more potential for fire.

Your vision for water... is our most valuable resource.

We had visited earlier about this issue. I was assured that Montana would receive authority last month in an expedited process.

Are we cutting a fund when, in fact, it could save us money if we utilize that money before we get to a crisis situation?

Fires are a fact of life. But we all know we need to handle them in a way--because there's a lot of people that live out there, there's a lot of forest communities.

I think we all have a tough job. There's, we know that the deficit and debt issues are critically important to get under control.

I think that if we could get some of that technology implemented, it could really save us some money and make the border more secure in the process.

I feel so strongly about adding more accountability to Senate campaigns.

I think from a homeland security standpoint there are a lot of small airports along the Northern tier that have done this in the past.

I think we need technology as a comprehensive part of that.

I recently sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and you on the increased rate of drug smuggling across the Northern Border by low-flying aircraft.

The system is redundant and it is wasteful.

I arrived in Great Falls last week, and they informed me that the airport there in Great Falls was not going to be able to process those international flights anymore.

There was a 70-percent chance that a release of foot-and-mouth disease would result during this 50-year lifetime. That would be catastrophic.